The use of torture has risen in Afghan police jails over the past year, and there are "credible reports" the country's intelligence service has created secret prisons and sometimes hides detainees from international observers, a damning UN survey has found. Just over half of prisoners held in connection with Afghanistan's long-running war endured torture or ill-treatment while in custody between October 2011 and October 2012, with 14 different methods recorded, including electric shocks, twisting of genitals, beatings with cables and rifle butts and suspension from the wrists or feet. Emma Graham-Harrison, guardian.co.uk, 20 January 2013